Reeves Motor Sports, Silver Springs, NPD Museum

Team Speed Culture (Bobby, Jeff and Robert) embarked on another road trip today. The day started before 7:00am with a stop in Tampa at Reeves Import Motorcars for the monthly Cars and Coffee. There were easily 150 plus cars on hand and the parking lot was jammed. There was an eclectic mix of cars ranging from a 1965 Ford Econoline pick-up to your basic 70’s Pontiac Firebirds, Chevelle’s and Mopar”s. There were also plenty of expensive German cars to go around, vintage and contemporary BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsches including a few vintage 356’s one of which was a very rare convertible “D”. Italian cars were well represented with two Lamborghini Gallardo’s and some Maserati’s. There was also an assortment of Japanese tuners making noise in the back lot. The three of us mingled with the crowds, sipped cups of coffee and had more than a few fresh beignets as we walked through the field of cool cars. Local celebrity radio DJ and friend Mason Dixon from Q105 brought his classic 1970 Challenger convertible.

NPD All GM Car Show:

At about 8:30 the cars started thinning out so we headed up I-75 to our next destination, Silver Springs in Ocala for the All GM Car Show sponsored by National Parts Depot. The day was covered with clouds and on the drive up the weather seemed like it couldn’t make up its mind – was it going to rain or let the sun shine through. That’s a long way to drive to see a wet car show. The rain had stayed away and it was a cool and surprisingly dry day at the car show by Florida standards. The park was overflowing with car enthusiasts, specifically GM car fans. There was a sea of tri-five Chevys, Camaros, Chevelles, El Caminos and SSR’s, although a real 1969 COPO Camaro ZL1 took the cake. . Pontiac owners had their fair share of Trans-Am’s and GTO’s to delight the onlookers. “A” body Oldsmobile and Buick intermediates filled their designated areas in the field as well. Last but not least there were a slew of Corvettes; C1,2,3,4,5,6, and even a few C7’s. Our good friend Don won “Best 1953-67 Corvette” with his stunning black and red 1957 roadster. There was a live band playing music and most participants were just relaxing and conversing among their hobbyists alumni. The three of us took plenty of pics, chatted with participants and talked with vendors. Pete Doriguzzi from Heacock Classic Insurance provided some good insight on the ever changing classic car market and our good friend and organizer of the event Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot carried on some interesting conversation about the latest new products in the aftermarket parts industry. Today, one can just about build a complete car out of a UPS box.

NPD Headquarters…

At about 4:00pm we piled in the mighty Ford Excursion and headed over to the NPD headquarters to check out their amazing private car collection. The 4 acre building houses some several hundred extremely low mileage and original cars ranging from all domestic makes such as GM, Mopar and Ford products which make up the bulk of the collection. The walls were covered with lots of automotive memorabilia, signs and nostalgia. One interesting display was a life size cut-a-way of a Ford 390 FE motor that could be made to run and show the inner workings and operation of a complete engine. Lining the walls in glass cases was a comprehensive collection a die cast toy cars and vintage cameras. By now NPD was getting ready to close so on the way out the door we grabbed some parts catalogs and scoured the scratch and dent room looking for some good deals. We then piled in the mighty Ford Excursion and headed back to Clearwater making a quick detour by “Krispy Kreme”. A fitting end to a fun day. Stay tuned for more excursions with Team Speed Culture.